


Eerie

by maplestreet83



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Fourth of July, Mileven, inspired by the season 3 poster, summer of 1985
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 07:10:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17259833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maplestreet83/pseuds/maplestreet83
Summary: Eerie (adj)- so mysterious, strange, or unexpected as to send a chill up the spine- also: seemingly not of earthly origin





	Eerie

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired to write this by the new teaser poster for season three that just got released. I just love the atmosphere and tone of it and it's making me feel all the Mileven feelings again. Just so happy to have new content again!

 

Mike noticed there was something off with El as he first saw her that day, when she got dropped off at the Byers house by Hopper. She had looked excited, hugging her adoptive dad and assuring him that she would be fine, that she remembered what they had talked about and would be careful. And as they biked towards downtown to see the parade, she joked with Dustin and Lucas about who would be the best at throwing and catching popcorn in their mouth. But every now and again there would be this shift in her eyes, in her demeanor, where her smile faded for just a second and her whole body tensed up. And after a blink of an eye it was gone, and she was back to her cheery and excited self once again.

The first couple of times it happened Mike thought he was imagining things. This was her first time out in town with just the party, Hopper promising her to let her freely enjoy the day’s festivities on her own, without him glued to her side at all times like it had previously been the few times she’d been out in public this summer. This freedom had taken a lot of convincing and preparing though and now that the day had finally come, it was fair to say Mike was more than a little on edge. He knew very well that El could take care of herself, but he still felt this responsibility to look out for her weighing his shoulders. But she was probably just as nervous about the day too, it was all going to be fine, Mike reasoned to himself as they parked their bikes behind Melvald’s and started to make their way to Main Street, where a crowd was steadily gathering along the parade route.

 

It was barely 10 am but the air was already getting hot, the sun above the small town bright as it beamed down from the cloudless blue sky. It was just like Mike had planned the day to be - he and El had talked about her coming to see the Fourth of July celebrations with them since last winter. And as the parade started, the crowd cheering and the high school marching band loud as it passed, followed by the many different floats, Mike felt this giddy feeling of utter happiness burgeoning in his chest, the feeling increasing tenfold as he looked over at El whose eyes were wide and her smile bright as she held onto his hand, excitedly raising on her toes to see better. Her smile and the wonder on her face were contagious and Mike grinned happily as she turned to look at him, pointing at the float passing by, with a huge red white and blue balloon arch on it. Mike leaned over to her, explaining how there we two floats that competed each year on whose balloon arch was bigger and the parade kept on going as they stood side by side, once in a while pointing out something. After a few minutes the float for the Hawkins Primary School PTA rolled by and Mike let out a laugh and turned to El, ready to launch into a story of how his mom had dragged him to join her and Nancy on the float when he was in first grade. But she wasn’t even looking at the parade, her head turned away from him as she looked at something further in the crowd.

“El?” Mike asked, his eyebrows furrowing a bit in worry. But she immediately turned back to him, saying:

“Yes?”

“Is everything okay?” Mike asked, panic rapidly rising in him as he too turned to look over at where she just had.

“Oh, it’s fine. Don’t worry. I was just looking for the popcorn stand,” El explained with a smile and Mike nodded at that as they continued to watch the parade, his hold on her hand tightening just a bit.

 

After the parade they biked over to the city park where they spent the afternoon eating free hot dogs and ice cream and having a fierce water gun fight with guns Dustin had brought (how he had managed to haul them all with him was a mystery). Their clothes soaked from the water, they were now laying on the grass on the more quiet part of the busy park. Max was practicing skating tricks on the nearby walkway and Dustin was tagging along, determined to learn at least one simple trick. Lucas was finishing off his ice cream cone and next to Mike, Will was taking a nap, and the music and excitable screams from the fair were coming in from the field on the other end of the park. They hadn’t yet decided if they were going to still go today or save on ticket money and spend the whole day tomorrow at the fair. Mike lifted himself up a bit, leaning back on his elbows and looked over at El and Lucas to ask their opinion on the matter. But before he did, he did a double take over at El, as he saw how pale she had suddenly become, the flush on her cheeks brought on by the hot sunny weather and the water gun fight all but gone as she sat still, leaning her hands on her propped up knees, twisting her blue bracelet around her wrist. Not sure what he should say, Mike gently set his hand on her arm, looking over at her with concern. There was clearly something bothering her, and he felt her worry and anxiety now eating at him too. As he touched her, El jumped just a bit, turning to look at him, panic flashing in her eyes just for a second before it was gone again.

“Hmm? What is it Mike?” she asked, her voice calm and perfectly normal again.

“Are you okay? You seemed a little… spaced out?” Mike asked and El scrunched up her face a bit.

“I seemed what?”

“Oh you know, like…” Mike started to explain but Lucas beat him to it:

“Like you were thinking something else.”

“Oh, sorry,” El said, pushing her now shoulder length hair behind her ears.

“I think I’m just tired, I was really excited last night so I couldn’t really sleep,” she explained with a shrug.

“Well you can take a nap too if you want? We’re not in a hurry,” Mike suggested and El nodded, looking over at Lucas who she knew was really excited about the fair.

“What about the fair?” she asked and Lucas waved his hand.

“Don’t worry about it El, we’ll go tomorrow. Get our money’s worth and spend the whole day there, hit all the rides” he said with a smile, eating the last of his sugar cone.

“Okay,” El answered with a relieved smile before lowering herself down to sleep on the grass. She fell asleep pretty instantly and Mike looked over at her, worrying if all this was too much for one day. If she was overexerting herself and not wanting to admit it because they had all planned this day for so long. But she looked calm as she slept and he hoped the nap would help her feel better again.

 

The sun was moving lower and lower on the horizon as they biked up the gravel road towards a small clearing up on the hills which they had deemed the perfect spot to watch the fireworks.

“Hurry up you guys, we’re gonna miss it!” Lucas shouted out, just as out of breath as the rest of them were as they got to the last steep leg of the road. They really were cutting it quite close, they’d gone over to the arcade for a bit and somehow lost track of time and now they really had to book it if they wanted to see the fireworks display from the beginning. Lucas and Will were the fastest bikers so they were leading the group, Max and Dustin right behind them as Mike stayed back a bit for El - and not at all because his legs were aching and he was exhausted from the bike ride - who was doing really well considering she had only learned how to ride a bike a few months ago.

“Come on, we’re almost there!” Max yelled out as they climbed up the hill, the clearing between the dense trees coming to view. That seemed to encourage El as she picked up the speed, passing Mike in the last yards of the way, grinning excitedly at him as she did. Reaching the clearing, they all got off their bikes and quickly threw them to the side, catching their breaths. They all started to make their way to the edge of the hill, looking at the glimmering lights of the town and the fair shine below them. El waited for Mike to catch up and slipped her hand in his as he did.

“Oh yeah, this was the perfect spot! Well done gang!” Dusting exclaimed, standing over the ledge, his hands proudly on his hips as he looked down at the view.

“I’m pretty sure it was me who picked the spot,” Will commented, walking up to Dustin who launched into explanations of how it was really a team effort if you really thought about it. Mike huffed, staying out of the argument - though it really had been Will who had first found the spot - as he and El slowly made their way through the clearing, their clasped together hands swinging between them. The view really was amazing, the sun had almost completely set, the last rays of gold painting the sky over the west part of town, and the sky was an inky blue, speckled with the first stars of the evening, and below it the lights of the city, the gold and neon lights of the fair making for a truly beautiful sight. Mike turned over to El to ask if she liked the view too, but saw that she was glancing behind them onto the empty backroad and the dark forest surrounding it, as she shifted in place restlessly, her face concentrated and her brown eyes steely. Mike looked back too, but didn’t see anything, the road as empty as it had been when they had biked up it.

“What is it? Did you see someone following us?” he asked in a hushed tone, his voice worried. This was what he was most worried about, what Hopper had lectured them on time and time again before today. They had to keep low profile, and they had to be careful. El blinked her eyes, slowly turning to look forward as she said:

“No, but I just have this feeling…”

“What feeling?” Mike asked, turning a bit towards her.

“I don’t know. I’ve had it all day, suddenly it’s just there and I feel it here,” El explained, raising up her free hand to touch the skin at the back of her neck.

“And then it feels like someone or something is watching me. Watching us,” she concluded, looking Mike in the eye and he could see her eyes filled with tense worry and panic. Mike gulped, glancing behind them at the road again, but there was nothing there.

“Okay, well, have you tried to see what it is? In the void?” he asked, his voice still hushed.

“Yes, but I couldn’t see anything. But I can feel it, Mike. And it’s getting closer,” she said, the last of her words coming out as barely a whisper as she clung onto his hand, fear shining from her eyes. Mike opened and closed his mouth for a second, struggling with what to say, what to do. He hated seeing her scared and unsure more than anything.

“Okay. Well I think we better go, go back to Will’s house cause it’s the closest, and then call Hopper and…” Mike started, his words coming out fast and mumbled, but he got interrupted by the sounds of explosions as the fireworks display started. They turned to watch, the colors bright and radiant as they bursted out on the night sky. Dustin let out a happy whooping sound, raising both his hands in the air.  

“Look how cool that blue one is!” Max yelled out, pointing up too, an excited smile on her face. But instead of looking at her, Mike looker over at Will, who had suddenly gone really still, his face pale and his eyes wide. He slowly turned to look behind him and Mike was about to yell out to him, ask him if he felt something weird too, but then El squeezed his hand tightly.

“Mike,” she said, her voice a terrified whisper and Mike looked over at her to see she was looking behind them too, recognition and utter terror rising on her face that was illuminated by the bright bursting colors of the fireworks. And then he felt it too. Something cold, something eerie, something so not right it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. And that something was right behind them. The sounds of the fireworks suddenly felt muffled, their bright colors garish and overwhelming. There were goosebumps rising on his arms despite the still warm summer air, and his hands felt clammy and his mouth dry.  He was scared out of his mind but some instinct deep in him made him start slowly turning around. It felt like the world was suddenly in slow motion and he could hear a distant “Holy shit!” from Dustin and a piercing scream from Max but it was too late now. He turned around.


End file.
